Dr. Anne Peery, assistant professor in the division of gastroenterology, is featured today in a Wall Street Journal article that identifies how people get diverticulosis and diverticulitis, and why new treatment approaches are needed.
The WSJ article recognizes Peery’s research as challenging much of the “conventional wisdom.” Peery and other researchers are working on federally funded studies that are rethinking both the cause and the treatment. Peery explains that “many guidelines have been based on dated hypotheses and low-quality evidence.”
The article also recognizes that surgery recommendations after a second attack of acute diverticulitis are moving to a more individualized approach, particularly after studies suggest the recurrence of diverticulitis is less common than previously thought.
“We used to tell people with a history of uncomplicated diverticulitis that their next episode might be really bad and they might need emergency surgery, and a colostomy bag, but now we know that was not true,” says Dr. Peery in the article.
“Our patients with diverticulitis should understand that while they will likely have another episode, the experience will be similar to past episodes.” Surgery might be a consideration, “but only if the experience of recurrent diverticulitis is substantially impacting their life.”
The article can be accessed here: Wall Street Journal.